Enhancing English Competences in Tanzania: Developing Activity-oriented Learning Materials in Poetry Lessons

The competence-based English syllabus was introduced in Tanzania in 2005. The use of activity oriented lessons is believed to engage students’ minds actively as envisaged. A decade has passed yet no improvement in students’ performance in English language has been registered. Current studies revealed a shortage of effective learning materials especially in poetry. Moreover, the lessons’ materials of such nature appear new to teachers. This study aimed at engaging teachers and other education stakeholders in developing activity oriented lessons focusing on the poetry topic. Two questions guided the study: What are the characteristics of the Poetry lesson materials that may potentially improve English learning in Tanzania? What is the best approach to be used to provide a research driven solution in developing such materials?

The action research design was adopted to develop lesson prototypes in three iterative cycles. Three English language teachers, forty two (42) Form III students at Ngong’onha secondary school, and a curriculum expert from the University of Dodoma were involved. The participants provided progressive feedbacks and appraisals for modifications and revisions of the lessons’ prototypes until the materials of the required characteristics were successively obtained. The practicability and effectiveness of the materials were obtained through interviews, questionnaires and classroom observations.